The Sunday Mail
Wonder Munyanyi
After the Second World War, international power dynamics changed. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was formed. At the core of this military alliance was the United States backed by other Western powers like Britain, France and West Germany.
Six years later and in clear response to Nato’s hegemony, out came the Warsaw Pact which had the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at its centre.
The 15 states making up the USSR were joined by others like Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland.
This was a bipolar world pitting the US and the USSR and separated by the Iron Curtain.
Geopolitics shifted seismically with the USSR’s break-up in 1991. The bipolar world became unipolar, making the US the globe’s only super power.
This does not, of course, downplay the international influence of countries like Russia, China and Britain.
Historians have written about Pax Romana.
Pax Britannica was a global hegemony and constabulary of this Empire, and today it is unsurprising that some speak of Pax Americana.
MDC Alliance members Messrs Nelson Chamisa, Tendai Biti and Jacob Ngarivhume are clear on the above for a week ago, they sought to abuse the influence wielded by the US.
After engaging with different US government officials in Washington, they had the audacity to boast that they hold the key to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery.
Mr Biti stated thus: “The goodwill that we have been shown on this trip as the MDC Alliance, as well as the doors that have been opened to us, has been very overwhelming. We have always told people at our rallies that we have the keys to opening up Zimbabwe’s economy – and these are not mere words, it’s true.”
These words are boastful and amount to blackmail.
Two conflicting schools of thought surround the visit. One is that the visitors were invited. The other is that they invited themselves.
If they were invited, the writer maintains that the US government should have considered other options instead of engaging individuals who do not represent the Zimbabwe Government.
The United Nations Charter states in clear terms that the world body’s purpose is to develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights.
Further, it states that the UN aims to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character.
Article 2 of the Charter exhorts member states to act in good faith and uphold the sovereign equality of all its members.
The Charter also acknowledges that certain matters are solely within the domestic jurisdiction of member countries.
Implicit in this is that states should interact among themselves and not with self-appointed representatives.
The Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act continues to have a deleterious effect on the people and Government of Zimbabwe.
Its implementation has seen Zimbabwe grossly disadvantaged in dealings with Bretton Woods institutions. The Act compels US executive directors of international financial institutions to “oppose and vote against any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe and any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution”.
It imposes preconditions the Government of Zimbabwe has to follow before the punitive conditions can be uplifted. Does this not remind the reader of Mr Biti’s language?
Let us for a moment assume that these visitors to Washington invited themselves.
If that was the case, this would clearly show their contempt for Government, Sadc and the African Union.
They should have first sought home-grown solutions to any of their grievances before embarking on that trip.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has stated his wish to break from the past and has encouraged Zimbabweans to let bygones be bygones.
And Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa says Zimbabwe should be given a chance to move forward. In the field of international relations, no conflict, tension or misunderstanding is insurmountable.
Who ever imagined the Cold War ending without military contact between its two nuclear protagonists?
How many would have bet a dollar on an American President shaking the hand of his or her Cuban counterpart?
President Mnangagwa is prioritising an open-door policy as part of his vision for Zimbabwe to enjoy good relations with all countries of the world in accordance with the UN Charter.
Thus governments worldwide should engage authorities in Zimbabwe and not individuals in resolving any outstanding matters.
The opposition is free to hold whatever brief the law permits.
However, it would be grossly irresponsible to advocate sanctions solely to make people suffer in order to compel them to vote favourably for the opposition.
No one should be held at economic gun-point.
Would elections be free and fair if that happened?
Wonder Rodney Munyanyi holds a BL and LLB degree from the University of Zimbabwe where he also studied for a Master of Science Degree in International Relations. He holds diplomas in Immigration and Refugee Law and European Law from the United Kingdom. He has practised law in Zimbabwe and the United Kingdom. He wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.
